


One by One

by Middleinthenight21



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman Beyond, DCU (Comics), Justice League vs. Teen Titans (2016), Teen Titans (Comics), Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Blood and Violence, DamiRae - Freeform, Drama, F/M, M/M, Romance, Spoilers Justice League Dark: Apokolips war
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:56:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24332434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Middleinthenight21/pseuds/Middleinthenight21
Summary: Raven agrees to lead the League of Assassins with Damian, but not everything is perfect.’’I rose up from the death i do it all the time’’AU JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK APOKOLIPS WAR
Relationships: Raven & Damian Wayne, Raven/Damian Wayne
Comments: 12
Kudos: 106





	1. Preface

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Everything belongs to DC COMICS

The pain seemed like a steel stake that merged with her soul, penetrating her bones and wounding the blood vessels, touching the correct points and it would take a long time to rip it from her veins. Raven had suffered for whole days, it hurt so much that tears are not enough, although she knows that she must be strong, she cannot avoid being overwhelmed.

Conner looks up, his eyes that once were merry and rogue are now two empty sockets. The surviving Titans are gathered at the entrance to the island, away from the bloodshed, but their minds travel to painful places.

The cost of this war was high; it had taken Kory, Garfield, Wally, Roy, all her friends, her family. She no longer has the energy to speak, smile and wish for a better tomorrow; nothing would be the same anymore.

Her mind flies like a butterfly to Richard Grayson, her mentor and one of the best men she had ever known; he was one of the fallen. If he were here, he would know how to turn off the silence of death. He would guide them as always and take them away from the pain as he could. She wants to see him one last time and say goodbye accordingly, share even a moment with her friends, she would tell Kory that she was like a mother to her and she would never forget her, she represented a beacon of light in the dark, but she knows the immense love Kory had for Dick and she does not want to see the suffering on their faces when she finds out about the death of her partner. One of her parts thinks that perhaps it is better that both were dead, it avoided that they will mourn the death of the other, at least death is a simple thing and they could rest.

If there is something called heaven, she is sure that her friends would be there, they got the simple part. Raven knows that she will not go to heaven, it is not made for the daughters of demons, but she would be happy because somewhere they would be happy and reunited, although she would never see them again.

She wonders because of all of them she is who survived, she did not deserve it. Others think the same.

Donna hugs her knees, looks like a little girl holding on to a stuffed animal. Her hair is covered in a layer of dirt and debris, her uniform has cuts and her shoulder is hurt. A stab so deep that it reveals the bone, they had washed her, and Raven wanted to heal her, but she didn't let her. The young Amazon did not complain but Raven saw the pain on her face and the sweat like a film on her forehead, perhaps it is better to focus on physical suffering.

The rain creeps off the fire, nobody moves. Their bodies are wet, and it doesn't bother them, it's as if discomfort and cold are nothing.

What will they do now? They do not return to the tower for days, which before represented hope and dreams, where lonely young people found a home now it is a killing field. She had heard the story of Icarus. The young man who made wings, attached them to his back with wax and flew very close to the sun. His wings were melted by the temperature and he collapsed, his body crashed to the ground.

Perhaps they were like Icarus, their glory days were short, and the heroes had sealed their own tomb when they invaded Apokolips. Even if they managed to recover, the world would never be the same, it would never be the same.

Your heroes were scum, a bunch of arrogant idiots, daughter. If I had freed myself ...  
Turn off your voice.

How do you learn to live with the impossible? Raven would take the pain of her friends, keep it, and suffer in solitude, if they smiled back at her. Watching Jump City is painful, it reminds her of her first home, when she lost her mother in the blink of an eye and was forced to live with that mistake. She would lay down her life for Kory, offer her remaining strength and magic to win back her friends.

How would she go on? How is it possible to recover from this?

"I'll go back to Themiscyra," says Donna. Her voice is a whisper, and the rain hits her body forming rivers of dirty water. She doesn't know if there are tears running down her cheeks or it's just the rain. "I'm leaving tonight"

They don't say anything.

The news hits Raven, despite everything, she still thinks she can stay. She does not want to lose a friend as valuable as the Amazon, but she also knows that they have to leave. They cannot stay, the tower is destroyed, there is no reason to return, and at any moment the parademons can return. It pains her to think that something she has worked so hard for was dissolving in her hands.

"Go soon…." Conner sighs. The boy does not move, he is like a statue and his eyes remain focused on the fire of the bonfire being extinguished by the rain and the smoke, a curtain that is dividing his friends. "At least you'll be in a safe place, Donna" the Amazon doesn't say anything.

He watches her and, wonders what it's like to have a home. A place he could take refuge, arms outstretched to hug, familiar faces wishing for the best and healing. Conner does not have a family. He is the result of an experiment and he does not think that he considers Lex Luthor as his father and they did not know where Superman was. Raven lost her mother and dimension years ago; They have no place to go.

If her mother and Azarath were alive, she might run into her arms, hug Arella, and cry until her eyes were dry, exposing her feelings and emotions like never before.

You were always strong, daughter. If there is someone who can recover from anything, it is you. Arella told her this when she broke her leg after falling from a tree and she had to resist the magical procedures of the monks. She still remembers how her mother had caressed her forehead. Wiping away the sweat, her grunts and complaints, how she placed a kiss on her forehead gently.

You are trusting, too proud and arrogant, the older monk murmured when she escaped from the lessons and appeared for the exams, emerging victorious. Raven thought the monk hated her when she forced him to find her among the temples. He grumbled and growled, but she saw the fun in his emotions and had been some kind of grumpy grandfather. When Trigon razed the dimension, she only found a broken skull, it was the only thing left of the monk.

They had left her dealing with her mistakes, blaming herself for what she did as a child; feeling helpless in hell and fighting her father. The Titans were no different, her mind wonders what would have been had she escaped from Trigon after he attacked Superman, if he hadn't listened to them and traveled between dimensions, maybe the end result wouldn't hurt as much.

Her mother visits her at night.

In her dreams she is never angry at what she did. The monk still looks for her and scolds her when she runs through the squares, all the monks and the bright skies are there. Now she adds other burdens on her back, Dick's mischievous gaze, Kory's softness, Garfield's silly jokes, as Jaime loved competition and spoke with love about his younger sister.

Shit, she would miss them so much.

She had had a home and lost it, when she let her guard down and became fond again, they took it from her in the worst possible way.

Now one of her friends was leaving her.

Her insides ache and she thinks she can vomit right now. She feels the anxiety devouring her guts, the pain showing up and the idea of being alone terrifies her too much. She is afraid of being alone in a ghost town.

Jump City is her second Azarath.

In her native dimension there were no decomposed and dismembered bodies. The smell of blood did not rise, and no cries were heard from afar. There was only fire and ashes, and the voice of her father manipulating the situation, insisting that it is the best she has; now only the deaf suffering remains.

"I'll be going too," Raven gasps. Feeling the weight of loneliness and swallows hard. "I need to see if the Kent’s are okay" Conner looks up, as if expecting someone to appear in the clouds. "He would want it," he murmurs.

She looks down, her hair is wet, and a drop of rainwater descends from her head to her forehead, it is the only thing she perceives. Raven does not have a family, they do not expect her return on a protected island and there is no house in the middle of the field, there is no one waiting for her.

Everything she owned was taken from him.

Perhaps only death, loneliness and pain would be her faithful companions. She imagines herself wandering among the rubble, observing in first person what was left of the city that they protected for years, trying to find herself between the disaster and the tears. She doesn't want that.

What will become of her now?

When Damian shows up, he has civilian clothes, his hands are broken and there is a thick layer of mud that stains his clothes, his nails are a mixture of earth and blood. His face is neutral, and his eyes are hard, there is a grimace that has not left his face and she thinks it may be something permanent.

He stares spitefully at the Superman symbol on Conner's chest.

Titus follows, the Great Dane trotting alongside his companion. The formality and discipline that characterized the dog seemed attenuated, as if he knew that the situation was not good and he did not want to cause problems. She looks him in the eye, he sits next to her, does not give her second glances, there is a backpack on his back and reality hits her, like a slap.

I'm the only thing you have, witch.

She had barely seen Damian since the fall of the Teen Titans. He stood next to Dick's body, as if he couldn't believe it and the pain was a tsunami for a few moments, until he looked up straight at the sky. Raven had watched him harden, build a breastplate for himself, and she hasn't felt so much anger coming from the young man since he came to the Titans.

He did not let the wound in his torso heal, he treated it by himself without anesthesia and when the pain came he preferred to find out inside, she felt that she was losing him, that the person who visited her in her room in the afternoons, who drank tea in porcelain cups and worried about her safety more than anyone, was no longer here. Raven thought she had punctured his walls, that they could look each other in the eye untethered, but she knows she will no longer be able to knock him down.

Her soul is in pieces, but she prefers that he leave. That he leaves in silence because at least they would not have a farewell and she would not cry to see his back without looking back. Damian would hurt less to leave her behind, he's strong and would fight to earn a place in the world, and Raven would be left in the ruins with nothing to hold on to, there would be nothing that mattered to her. No one would cry for her.

Even your friends are leaving you. I am the only thing you have.  
What a miserable life.

"I'm leaving," Damian declares. It was direct and cold, and Raven hopes it will be. "I leave in the morning. "

Of course.

"Good luck," Donna hugs her knees tighter. She hides her head and they can see how she trembles and is collapsing. They do nothing to comfort her and Titus is the only one sitting next to her, but he does not make any movement, he is simply there. "They'll be fine, right?" She says in a broken voice.

The sobs seem just as useless and sad as the rain. Raven thinks Donna is expressing herself for the group, as no one else had shed a single tear and they kept their pain to themselves. For a few minutes their heads are too helpless to provide encouragement.

Conner grimaces at the girl. She can feel the suffering tearing his soul, his mouth trembles in what looks like a pout and his eyes are red, threatening to shed tears, but before this happens, he puts on his glasses. One of the lenses is broken and it is not very protective or effective.

He puts on his glasses as if that will remind him of who he is, but it's more than that. He uses it so they don't see him cry.

Damian remains motionless, clenching his fists and frowning. She can see the thoughts going through his head, like a whirlpool and he doesn't let her see his emotions, he is a ghost that Raven cannot chase.

They are all ghosts that will disappear in a few hours.

***

When Donna leaves, she is silent. The girl had been crying for hours until she sighed and got up, when she managed to regain her composure, she did not look back or say goodbye, but takes off when the sun hides among the mountains.

It is as if the star knew what was happening, since it disappears on the horizon along with her friend.

Raven is left remembering the moments she shared with Donna, knowing that perhaps she will never see her again.

***

"Be well," Conner grimaces. He was about to leave as he was worried about the Kent’s. He hadn't shared much with the couple, but they were kind of parents to Superboy and he tried to keep in touch. She would like to tell him that the old couple are fine, however this is hardly possible. "We had some good years" he keeps his eyes on the stars "but I'm done."

Raven remains silent, clasping her hands in her lap and ducking her head. Conner is about to leave and cannot feel worse because she knows that she is staying alone. She wants to be angry with them for not considering her in their plans. Leaving her with a wound in her heart so big that she does not know how to cure the pain, but she is not like them.

She has no one and everyone needs to recover, at least until the suffering was bearable. Now they are sore, tired and want to be anywhere but here.

She's not going to blame Conner for leaving.

She wasn't going to blame them for leaving her behind.

"Will you take care of yourself?"

She raises her head in surprise at the question. Conner is looking at her through his glasses.

"I can take care of myself." But her inner strength is faltering.

Silence is a monster, he does not respond, but sighs while staring at the tower and a pout forms on his mouth, it is a trembling line "Send my good wishes to Damian" The Son of Batman disappeared with Titus after Donna left, giving the excuse that the animal wanted to eat and something inside Raven cut off at the thought that he might go. That it might be the last time she would see him. Conner's feet floated a few inches off the ground, and he looked at Raven. "Find me if you need anything ... "

She nodded.

Her hands trembled at the sides of her body, as if she had no control. It pained her to think that she was being left alone, her memory returning to the battle, to the place where she was before the world became a field of deaths and tormented souls. She thinks of Darkseid, he had inflicted more damage on them than he thought. He is probably sitting on a throne with death as his servant, millions of lives in his hands, mocking the stupidity of those who faced him, keeping them alive was a punishment.

It would have been better if she died… Dying is easy.  
But her death is not easy, it would not come from anywhere and Raven always knew that she would have a long existence. Right now, she just thinks it would be better to die in battle, at least she would take Trigon with her and ...

Let me out, daughter. I can...  
"Goodbye, Rae."

Conner disappeared into the heavy clouds laden with the promise of a thunderstorm. The superhero is so dramatic that he chose to leave when the mist covers the destroyed shoreline of Jump City, when pieces of the buildings still fall to the ground and there is a concrete explosion, like a bomb.

Even the sky is sad.

Raven closes her eyes by burying her head in her hands, struggling with the situation, with the silence that is a being that tries to eat her. It is ironic to her as she described herself as someone silent, a friend of private spaces and that old comfort of when you contemplate a landscape, now her qualities are defects.

No one would save her.

She does not have her friends to sustain herself in the midst of pain and despair, there is only death and abandonment.

A lump is installed in her throat and she cannot get rid of it.

You are weak, you filthy witch. You are just like your mother.  
I love you to the moon and back, says his mother. Her mind goes back to that time when she escaped from a lesson only to chase that little cat who was stealing her lunch and the monks had scolded her. She thought she would be angry and would approve of her being punished, but she watched her with love and caressed her cheeks. I don't care if they tell you that you are proud, confident and highlight your flaws. You are my girl, my little bird.  
You are the most hopeful heroine I have ever met, Dick smiled at her and the sun illuminated his features. A sweet softness wrapped around him as Kory joined them, the alien taking her hand. Don't go, stay with the Teen Titans, observed Dick, we can help you choose clothes, remodel your room and accompany you to buy those little ducks that go in the bathtub.  
None of them are here, they are just voices that would be lost over time. Raven doesn't want to forget; she has no right to recover from this.

It would have been better to die.  
An arm wraps around her shoulder, she doesn't need her powers to know that it’s Damian and she finds herself burying her head in his chest, clutching her fists to his clothes, as if he is going to disappear. She doesn't want him to leave, Raven wants his heart to return, she thinks he would be better elsewhere. Her intentions were never to win with Damian, and she would give in if that implied the safety of this boy; she just wants him to be happy.

Damian lost his brother; they did not know what had happened to Batman and Gotham fell a few days ago. He has nothing.

He pressed down on her body and she could feel his jaw pressed to her head. If she lost him, she would keep this moment forever, she clinging to his arms and he wrapping his arms around her when the sky opens and reveals the stars. She wants to memorize his scent, his strength and he is a point in a story that she did not reach to be narrated; If she had been braver, she would have confessed her feelings to him before, but her life is not made for fairy tales. They are built on a darker premise.

Titus groans and rests his head on her shoulder, runs his tongue over her face and it is a relief. She will miss the animal.

What hero has a happy story?

In another reality he could be hers, or at least enter her life in a different way, even if he rejects her, she would still have him and that would be enough.

She feels his mouth open and close, not knowing what to say. She knows what he will say.

"Don't cover it with sugar, Damian."

He is silent. Raven looks up, still refusing to give up his arms and is looking into his eyes, her green eyes are looking directly at her and she can't believe that this is her end.

She would remember the green tone of his eyes, not compared to wet grass, to the water of a river, but to jade. Damian has grown in recent years; his jaw has become square and must be shaved to get a beard away from his face. His skin color has become more olive, his bones ached when he had a rapid growth and his body developed muscles in the areas closer to that of grown man.

He has changed.

"I'll go back to the League of Assassins," he frowns. "I have already spoken to Lady Shiva."

She thought it would hurt, but she couldn't imagine how much, and her fingers were loosening. Her knowing it was coming indirectly is one thing, hearing it from his lips makes it a reality and loneliness crushes her heart.

Donna is gone.

Conner disappeared into the clouds a few hours ago.

Damian was leaving her now, too.

She had to have seen the signs, maybe it was her bad judgment that convinced her that there was a remote chance that he would stay, but what for? He has nothing to fight for, they cannot remain in the tower forever.

"Oh," escapes her lips.

Suddenly she's walking away, and it may be the last time she sees him.

She wonders if Damian has no doubts. He left the League of Assassins for years and Batman does not approve of Ra's Al Ghul lifestyle, only the one he had intended for his son and instilled other values in him, he would not think well of Damian upon returning. Raven does not know what to think, the barrier could deepen between the two, the league is full of criminals. Maybe going back to the league is the only thing he had as insurance in his life, there is no Nightwing, Batman or the Teen Titans.

One part of her justifies it, but the other is terrified to discover what he could become.

"Everyone is leaving," she murmurs. She tries to keep her tone neutral, but it breaks like a tuned guitar string.

Where would she go? She doesn't have a home, can't even look at the tower without feeling devastated, overwhelmed with pain, and wouldn't be able to make it through the city on her own. Her empathic abilities would end up driving her insane, there's too much pain, the city is kindled by suffering and from a distance she distinguishes its colors.

Damian looks down and she sees the fight in his mind, she almost wants to pass a hand to smooth the wrinkle that forms between his brows.

She would miss that wrinkle.

"Come with me. "

What?

He watches her, there is a shyness sparkle in his eyes and if he had not been so close, he may not even hear it, his proposal is so fast in a thick tone that it would be confusing, but Raven heard it clearly.

She is stunned by the offer.

"Come with me. Lead the League of Assassins by my side" He was looking her in the eye now. His katana in its case, and him in a hoodie. He looks casual, as if he had never witnessed death and pain with his own eyes. "You can do it; you are a good fighter."

Hope was shining within her, Damian wanted them to go together, but she is not an assassin; she has nothing to claim among the ranks of the league.

She can't imagine leading an organization made up of assassins, but where would she go? She has nothing and nobody; she had heard that her mother had a sister, but Arella never spoke directly of her family, limiting herself to just Raven and she doubts very much that they would have survived. She doesn't want to say goodbye to Damian Wayne and watch him go off into the unknown.

Say Yes! A voice inside shouts, it’s optimistic marked by blind love and the promise of a tomorrow, perhaps not a better one, but it is still a more decent future than one of solitude and corpses. She is surprised at how idealistic she can be, even with everything that happened, she still dreamed of this boy, she still sighed because he was offering her a different life; one that would allow her to see him every day. You are not an assassin. They are his people, not yours, a wicked voice warned her, it is like a snake poisoned with truth, more damaging than her father's words.

Do you think you will write the tale of the witch and the assassin, idiot girl? Trigon scoffs. Don't make me laugh, daughter. You are weak, you have always been equal to your mother who believed in demons that fall in love with humans and golden futures.  
Do you want to play the queen of assassins so much?  
Raven ducks her head, refusing to look him in the eye. Her mind was in conflict, she wanted to quench her father's teasing and her racing heart believing that he would not leave her alone. She wished for them to build a future together, but she also knows that the place where they would go is not idyllic; It is not a paradise.

"We can be secure," he offers as if it were the last resort. Damian's tone is soft, but it is mixed with doubt and silent resignation, as if he were realizing that she would say no. "It is one of the safest places on the planet. "

She strokes his uniform cape, as if to remind herself that this is real, and he is still here.

They look at each other in the eyes. Damian's breathing is heavy, time freezes and she knows that this moment can define what would be of her life in what they had left, she could change it for better or worse.

The person in front of you. The future in front of you.  
For the first time in three days she looks at the tower, it is destroyed, holes and cracks damage the T and she realizes that he cannot stay. She cannot bear the idea of being alone, she could not compose herself; she doesn't want to go through another hell where she only has Trigon as a company, him feeding on her pain and weakness. Her father would feel no empathy for her, even if she died, he would still worry about himself.

Maybe it would not be perfect, but it is a future, and she does not want to lose him.

"I'm going to go." She clears her throat. "I'll go with you to the League of Assassins. "

Damian nods.

***

She hadn't expected the trip to be this long, but Damian insists it would be days. Nanda Parbat is a fortress in Tibet, she is trying to locate it on the map, and she is half a world away, so they must take a trip on a plane waiting for them outside Jump City. She does not distinguish the face of the pilot, as he is covered by a mask that only leaves his eyes exposed and bows when he sees Damian.

Raven had looked out the window at the decimated city. She has not packed, did not want to rescue anything that was her home, but found a jewel that had belonged to Starfire; she said that it was the only thing she could bring from Tamaran, it is a violet stone that catches sunlight and reminds her of her friend. It had been lying a few meters from her shattered body, as if in her last moments she had clung to the stone.

It breaks her heart when she sees the jewel.

Titus rests his head on her lap and yawns. She smiles at the animal and strokes its head; he had been a loyal and brave dog not to be disturbed when seeing the chaos that the world had become. His soft fur is like the fibers of a carpet and it is warm, like a stuffed animal. He reminds her of good things, laughs in the park, the pet store that always smelled of food, and a box of puppies they gave away in the city center.

The pilot barely looks at her. She is surprised by the technology of the plane, although it is small. Damian sits in the passenger seat, as if he were the one directing it, gives the pilot instructions in another language and the man nods.

When the plane takes off, Raven cannot take her eyes off the city. She feels bad for leaving the corpses of her friends and not giving them a decent burial and leaving; they deserved better.

Watching Jump City hurts, however, she can't look away either.

She wonders what Kory, Garfield, or any of her friends would think if they found out what she was doing, would they get mad? Perhaps they were reproving her from heaven, they look at her with furious eyes and they would have a bad opinion of her decision to follow Damian to lead an organization that the heroes disapprove of.

Jump City, the city where memories had been formed and would remain here, the destroyed tower is a point on the small island from afar, it seems like a fallacy that a few weeks ago she would have lived in that tower with other thoughts hanging around her head. She stretches out her hand on the glass when the plane is about to take off, her fingers touch the point where the destroyed tower is positioned and murmurs a silent prayer to Uxia, the spirit that guides souls to eternal rest and is the protector of the martyrs, to direct her fallen friends to a better place than she is heading for.

"Goodbye," she whispers.

She wants to see their faces for the last time, that they are in a place full of light. Because people as wonderful as them deserve the best, if this life did not offer it to them, then let it be in the next ones.

Feeling eyes on her, Damian is watching her from the passenger seat and there is a grimace on his face, he disappears in the blink of an eye and presses buttons and continues giving orders with a firm voice.

Titus falls asleep on her lap.

The plane takes off and for a few moments she swears that there is a figure flying around the tower, but by then the plane has already crossed the mountains and she is observing the ocean.

Raven presses the jewel that belonged to her friend against her chest, praying that she had not been wrong and blinded by feelings.

You are weak. You are running away like your mother, but don't worry, daughter; you'll ruin it anyway. You always do it.  
***


	2. Midnight decisions

In Azarath there was a story about a monk who lost his loved one and his family as a result of a plague that punished the dimension. He was determined to reunite with his loved ones, but the spirits wanted more for him, wanted him to impart hope, and his story was a warning to others.

He was going to be their pilgrim.

Regardless of what the spirits told him and the will that was imprinted in a prophecy for his life, the monk could not bear it and ended his life on a hill outside the temples. He cursed the cruelty of the spirits, his life that for a few years was brilliant and the purpose devoid of empathy that they brought him.

"Damn them all!"He exclaimed.

He raised a dagger skyward, the abode of the spirits, and buried it in his neck, right in an artery.

His death was slow and lonely, there was no one to mourn him and the blood was still fresh on earth.

The spirits had not allowed the monk's blood to dry and be absorbed by the earth after decades.

"Do you know what it means, girl?"

Raven was small when she looks at the blood on the hill. The temples of Azarath behind her, the warm wind kissed her skin and the grass is damp under her bare feet, when she observes the blood is invaded by nostalgia, anxiety, hopelessness, helplessness and sadness; she never expected to feel so many emotions and at her young age she was stunned.

The monk's happy years were a dream that is now a nightmare, chasing him in the dark moments and plucking his joys from the roots. You can see him at the top of the hill with tears in his eyes, invaded by sadness and anger with a bright dagger in his hands, ready to end his life.

Think of it as a sad story.

"The spirits have a purpose for everyone", her teacher says, observing the blood without compassion, like something unclean. "This happens to the arrogant, who believe they can cut their lives without consequences. We are not withered leaves and if we think we are dead we can still recover", there is a note of contempt in his voice.

Currently, she thinks he is cruel.

The monk's words had intended to teach her a lesson, wisdom, but there is no mercy in his speech.

In her childhood she had been intimidated by her teacher, the man criticized her harshly and supervised her days, as if she were an object.

In her childhood she had been intimidated by her teacher, the man criticized her harshly and supervised her days, as if she were an object.

She sees herself standing in front of her teacher. She is back in Azarath when the leaves of the trees are green, the sky a bluish canvas, and the temples with their gold-plated domes shine in the rays of the sun, just as it was before she summoned her father and destroyed everything.

The dimension is still active in your head, it will never leave you.

His eyes run from head to toe in disapproval, as if he really saw her, and his gaze is the dagger she drives into her neck.

Her mind travels to that battle in the tower where she lost everything, to her friends leaving perhaps forever, to the empty eyes of Damian when they killed his brother in front of him and learned of the fall of Gotham. Then, Damian was also going, but this time she did not accept to accompany him, and her father's voice is a curse. She thinks that her existence does not have a purpose, she looks for anything to start her life by the roots, even if she knows that she will not, because her death cannot be easy to achieve. Everything was taken from he, so she would not live to end the tragedy.

She looks like a girl in her memory, but all her experiences are intertwined, and she is not the same. She can't be.

Raven is angry at the monk, she is furious at his cruelty and remembers the times when he intimidated her, which pushed her beyond possible as a child. She goes back to that afternoon when he had yelled at her mother saying that something is wrong with Raven, that she does not belong here, and he thinks she should go.

"Fuck you and your stories", spit.

The man looks up in surprise.  
***  
The plane lands in a field in Tibet and a car with a small group of masked people is waiting for them.

The men are masked, their white garments shaken by the wind that is camouflaged by the snow, seem to be part of the landscape; they move like blades, they are firm and fast. From afar she feels the formality, the lethality of their swords and their sharp eyes, they have a deep and dangerous look.

When Damian gets off the plane, he looks like someone else. His shoulders square and he walk with his arms clasped behind his back, puffing up his chest, like a bird showing off the colors of his plumage.

Raven feels alien in her pants, her boots and the jacket on her shoulders is Damian's, she seems like a little girl compared to these people. One of them is a man with broad shoulders, heavy feet and a thick voice. When he gets out of the car, he tilts gratefully for the lack of weight and she sticks her back to the seat holding on to the dog feeling the serious aura that surrounds the man; the others act as if they have a position and are respected.

She watches the exchange from the plane window.

The pilot had barely observed her, acted like she was an invisible entity in the back seat of the plane throughout the trip. Now he adjusts the controls and prepares to appear in front of the bigger man with a bow.

There is tension in Damian's shoulders when the man speaks to him.

The wind blows over their bodies, the air is icy like all these people, it's as if even the weather will adapt to the League of Assassins. Her fingers tighten on the jewel that belonged to her friend, like an amulet, and she wishes she wasn't wrong.

There is a nod from the man and Damian is accompanied by four other hooded men towards the plane, there is a conversation in another language, she is surprised by the tone of her friend when he gives him an order, he is authoritative and full of harshness.

The door opens.

The men freeze when they see a girl sitting in a seat, next to a dog and Damian growls. People enter picking up the few things that belonged to their leader; as well as wooden boxes that are stacked in the hold of the plane.

"Come." He takes her hand, helps her up. She appreciates it because her legs tingle for the number of hours she was sitting and for a few moments, the world turns in a dizziness. He does not abandon her until she can walk on her own.

Titus stays by her side all the time and growls when strangers position themselves next to her, even a few meters away. The animal acts as if she will need protection, it causes tenderness, since she has only seen him act like this with children and caresses his head to relax him.

The grass under her boots is frosty and creaks with every step, the cold is a painful whip and she is soon hugging her body, holding back the chills.

Damian is ahead of the group; he has his gaze fixed forward and listens to what the big man says.

During the rest of the trip she only sees his back, his rigid posture and she remembers that hug in the middle of the night when she was about to collapse, he seems like another person now, more distant and disciplined.

Damian's jacket is light, it would protect her from the coastal cold, but not from the winter of the Himalayas.

They follow the group through hills and rugged terrain.

She observes the snowy mountains, she has never seen higher ones and they are like frozen towers, they are eroded by the furious wind. There is an ethereal beauty in the landscape. It reminds her of those images from remote places. Those that inspired tales in which people lived who drank hot chocolate and melted goat cheese in their wooden cabins, where nature is dominant, an unpredictable force and winters could kill.

This is not Jump City.

Raven walks with her head down, hiding her face behind a curtain of hair. This is her first day away from the city, the pain still follows her. She doesn't want them to see her puffy eyes, red nose and turquoise lips from the cold.

There are no emotions in the air, they are stealthy, and the men's steps seem measured. There here are no chills or tiredness in their bodies. These people float, like they have wings and behave like soldiers. There are no jokes or conversations, only submission and obedience.

She wonders what it would be like to grow up in a place like this. Surrounded by people who do not allow themselves to feel emotions, who barely exchange words and agree to any request from their leader, knowing that all these people belong to them. She is not surprised by Damian's attitude when he arrived at the Titans.

Her teeth chatter and she has to bite her lips to make it not noticeable.

There is a growl.

One of the men pushes folded clothing in her direction, it is black and thick, covered by a wool cape. Raven is surprised when he insists that she receive it. Titus growls and she quickly wraps her body in the jacket, now the cold seems like an idea.

For the first time since they landed, she can stop shaking.

"Thanks," she murmurs.

The man shared a look with his partner, as if he could hardly believe she was thanking him.

Raven reaches into her pockets when she feels more glances at her figure, they stop for a moment. She thinks she has done something wrong. Maybe they misunderstood her, since they seem not to speak the same language and she has insulted them without knowing it.

The big man says something to Damian, he is ignored, and he barks an order; the men return to their activities and nobody gives her a glance at what remains of the trip.  
***  
The ground is steep, full of pebbles that crumble with their steps and the wind is dry and cold. From the distance she observes hot springs. The water of a river gives off a steam that rises like a cloud, around it there are green grasses and moss. It looks like an oasis in the middle of a desert and she realizes that this is not like the cities and landscapes that had painted her life, it does not compare with any.

The men continue to climb, barely aware of the height, but Raven begins to suffer from headaches and knows it will only get worse.

She looks back.

To see the mountains covered with snow. The grass and the trees shaken by the wind, the rivers of warm water, the greenery that covered them. The animals are wild spots that play hunter and prey.

Maybe the view is worth the migraine.  
***  
The first time Raven is in the height of the mountain, she holds back not to vomit. She knows that her body is stronger than an average human and over time she would develop resistance, but her stomach is a whirlwind of food and gastric juices. She is still half human and not used to height.

She feels like she might pass out at any moment and every step is like walking in the mud, it's laborious. It is more exhausting of her energies than in a spell, or the process of healing a wound.

Her head hurts, her legs are shaken by the wind, and her insides don't help at all. The biggest man growls that they must get to Narba Parbat as soon as possible for that they must walk kilometers in the middle of the snow and, wind and try not to think about the cracks hidden under the ice.

When the sun hides behind the mountains, dyeing the peaks in a pretty pink shade, they decide to rest, since the night could be dangerous. But she doubts that they do it for them, but because they observe her face, covered in sweat and clear signs that she will get sick if they continue.

Raven doesn't want to be the weak one in the group. She has a feeling that the league wouldn't appreciate someone who could become a burden, but Damian orders the construction of a tent.

The men gather in different positions observing the sky with apprehension. Their swords in their sheaths and they seem to be sentinels in the middle of the snow. The flakes fall from the clouds and flood the earth settling in the cracks. Their suits cling to the shadows, when the darkness is present, they are not scared, but act as allies.

She looks at her whitish fingers, too pale for even a person like her, and her nails begin to turn turquoise.

Damian offers her the shelter when the moon is a blur between the clouds and the cold has claimed her bones, aching in the joints and limbs, as if she were an old woman.

She follows him like a sheep to a shepherd, everything seems very familiar to him. They had shared missions in inhospitable places, not staying long enough for temperatures or weather conditions to be inconvenient. Yet they had gravitated around each other for years, following each other. She is not surprised that at the end of the world they had also stayed together, but they are marked.

He no longer looks at her with the same eyes, he seems remote and speaks formally. His face is familiar, but his body language and the cold voice is foreign.

The shelter is small. Inside it seems that they live in another environment, because it is lukewarm, and the fabric blows with the wind. There is a sleeping bag, a lamp and a lot of armful of fabric folded in one corner.

Titus leans on top of the sack, as if waiting for her to do the same.

Raven watches Damian after entering the shelter. One part of her expects him to stay but knows he will not.

"Rest," he said with an empty look before disappearing.

So, she is alone and wraps her shoulders around a heavy blanket over the sleeping bag. She had checked the blankets, they are made from animal skins, hides and pieces of fabric.

The lamp casts a dim golden light. Raven watches the orange flame dance in the air and it's her first night outside of Jump City; since the planet was invaded and the heroes lost the battle.

Questions pop into her head, like ads on a commercial break: Had she given up too quickly? What was in store? Her mind projects the face of her Amazon friend arriving at her island, exhausted and hurt by the deaths. She wishes that the Kent’s are alive, thus it would return some light to her friend's eyes.

Thoughts and memories attack her, she cannot fall asleep. She sees fire, death and screams, but she is invisible, and she is silent, they are in her head. She is alone in a tent; Titus rests his head on her legs and stays there, she feels that the dog is afraid to move from her side.

Everything seems so unreal.

She does not feel like a teenager, but rather like someone much older. Who would fill the pages of a tragic book and make the reader want to look away from her story, there is nothing admirable in her life. No victory feels enough, and the ghosts of her life visit her in solitude. She still returns to Azarath, her mother is a recurring figure bringing and taking memories, like she is a criminal. Her friends scream when she closes her eyes, they materialize when she is unprepared. She thinks that she will finally be able to sleep the hours that correspond to her, but she doesn't.

Raven is alive, but she is not a winner.

She covers the dog with a blanket, it is a piece of cloth made from animal leather, she knows it only by feeling the texture. Damian probably does not approve of it; he would growl and solve the problem. Damian Wayne does not sit around waiting for the problems to resolve on their own, he runs into danger and attacks it looking it right in the eye.

That line of her thoughts is much better than the previous ones.

She looks towards the entrance of the shelter; the fabric returns through the air leaving a fine opening to the outside and she observes Damian's back. He is wearing a thick coat and buries his hands in his pockets. His eyes are fixed on the sky with a frown, the big man is gesturing, he seems lost in a subject, but from a distance she sees that the young man is immersed in his own world, absent.

How can he be so strong?

She strokes the dog's head, as if to remind herself that he is still here and still has comfort. The animal lets out a groan of satisfaction when she strokes his ears and he rub his head against her legs to warm her up. Titus was a shy puppy, he trembled when she held him the first time. With Damian he was disciplined and barked at the right times, he is a good boy. But when Raven is around, he becomes a completely spoiled baby and she thinks of how difficult it would have been being away from the dog, of not accepting Damian's offer.

Lead the League of Assassins with me.  
Even with Damian in her life she doesn't feel like she's doing something right. She walks straight into a society of murderers with anxiety and fear of the unknown biting at her soul. The world is still under attack. Millions are dying and the only thing that mattered to her is that she would be left alone, that she would look at the corpses and think that her existence never made sense.

She came to the world in rape, for evil reasons and a foreign purpose running through her veins. Perhaps that was her punishment for who she is. Karma to pay.

She deserved the pain.

You are weak, you filthy witch. There is no safe place for you.  
She looks at her trembling fingers, and her shoulders drop slightly. She feels that her body is betraying her, makes her helpless, and subordinate. And suddenly she only thinks of vomiting, of mutilated bodies, the roar of the wind is parademons, tearful people and sharp points.

She feels like she is drowning.

She squeezes her head, wanting to silence her father's annoying voice.

A sound interrupts her.

A figure makes its way into the tent, emerges from outside and Raven looks up, her eyes fixed on Damian when she recognizes him. The young man's face shows dark circles like black bags under his eyes. His features create shadows and lights in the golden light of the lamp, his body is covered by his coat, and they look into each other's eyes.

They are observed in depth, as if they knew everything of the other.

Raven feels that her emotions are molecules that feel attracted to him, gather around him and cannot help but show his state. She understands that he has not been able to fall asleep either, Damian has lost his family and friends; they both lost too much.

Now they are two ships in the middle of a hurricane, but Damian Wayne would always be safer, and would take to a port much faster.

Damian stands at the entrance, saying nothing and everything freezes around him.

She spreads her blanket and he understand that she is inviting him to sit next to her. He hesitates for a few moments but sits next to her and Raven spreads the blanket over his shoulders. Her hands tremble when she momentarily touches him, but she quickly disappears when she turns her hands towards the dog that now closes its eyes fighting against unconsciousness.

They are sitting in a corner of the tent with a blanket around their shoulders, with the golden light and she feels accompanied. Her interior feels a little fuller, this has become after days of being ignored and carried among the mountains as baggage.

She feels that even though they are next to each other there is still a great distance between them, it is a bridge that cannot burn.

"I shouldn't have brought you."

Raven's thoughts shake and her insides scream. She wants to think that she has not heard it. That it is a product of her restless imagination, but she concentrates on the echo of his words in the shelter and on the mocking laugh of her father. What has already been said and the hurricane turns, devouring whatever existed between the two.

The door is closing.  
Her shoulders sag and she looks down, her lips twist into a grimace and she doesn't want to look at him. She doesn't want to observe his face and he is walking away forever. Unconsciously, she looks for places where she could stay. One far from the mountains and the height, and she would not be in a remote corner, but all the shelters are sad.

Her heart is breaking right now.

She thinks it was a mistake and his proposal with the stars shining in the sky, during death and destruction, when they had clung and thought of his arms as a safe place, is now soaked by this confession.

Raven was too dumb.

Go, daughter. Run away to another place as always, anyway, I will end up getting out and ...  
"The League of Assassins has divided into factions." Damian's voice separates her from her mind, he sounds tired and he clenches his hand into a fist. "The most important families are fighting for power", he frowns at the tent floor. "It is no longer what my grandfather struggled to maintain for so many years", he growled.

She feels how her interior is consumed by a sense of relief and then by silent disappointment (That is not her) Damian is now a bluff of negative feelings and that wrinkle between his eyebrows deepens, it is a hidden groove. She is shaken by the emotions that came from the boy, he was too exposed, without the armor that he usually puts before the feelings.

It affects him more than he can admit.

He closes his eyes and murmurs, "League of Assassins is broken and even if I return, I will have to fight to take possession of the head and return it to its former glory," he explains. Raven's stomach adjusts and rearranges her thoughts, farewells are left behind, and she is replaced by alertness. Damian looks away. "I shouldn't have asked you to come", he confesses.

Damian fears for her.

A warm sensation envelops her interior and her eyes soften. The person in front of you. The future in front of you, sings a voice inside.

The future is now uncertain, full of bloodshed and tension. They were moving away from one war to enter another. Raven had tried to keep her head above water all her life, forces had forced her to go back to hell. She returned from dark places so many times that what will happen later seems a path of roses, even if something bad happened to her it would not be so bad.

There is no glory in one more body on the battlefield, but Damian need not know.

She rests her head against his shoulder "You'll manage to lead the league".

His closeness is a scorching force. She breathes in his scent permeating her sense of smell. He smells of woody lotion and his clothes are wet in certain areas from snowflakes that melt from the heat. She could take his hand, but she doesn't know if it will be appreciated. Instead she pats the dog and tries to offer him some comfort, even if she was at a loss for words.

Raven wants to offer better advice, speeches about what he could achieve and praise his ability to overcome challenges. In the past, she had thought of Damian as a survivor. A boy who fought tooth and nail for what he believed belonged to him, with clear and marked ideals, even if they were not his own.

He is now a hopeless child, searching the ashes for a new purpose and longing for the old glory.

After all they went through it doesn't surprise her that he taking this attitude, she just wants him to be more open with his pain, so she wouldn't have to guess what he going through. She wouldn't constantly wonder if it hurt him as much as it hurt her.

Damian leans his head against hers, she feels him slipping in comfort. The tension leaving his shoulders and he sighs against her scalp, it's an overwhelming breath. The blanket seems warmer, the wind shaking the tent no longer causes chills and the feeling that the construction would collapse on her body. He crashes his shoulders against hers and Raven watches the trembling of the flame of the lamp, while her body relaxes.

"It won't be easy," he whispers.

Keep talking, she thinks, but her lips are sealed. His voice is like a dance guided by a soft melody, it leaves her thirsty and little drinks are not enough, it calms her nerve. She can listen to entire speeches from her friend who slowly turned into something else, earned a place in her heart and Raven knows that for him she would give her life, but it is more than that, for Damian she would stay alive.

This is the most stable thing she has ever had in her life.

She sees the risk, the fire in the assassins' eyes and the edge of their swords in her throat, but it's worth it.

She feels the drowsiness claiming her body, the fatigue falls and catches her. Her legs ache from the intense journey to the Himalayas, her eyes are heavy, and she struggles to stay awake, but the atmosphere pulls and is too strong.

Damian sighs and keeps his eyes on one point in the distance. He does not move away, neither of them wants to end this moment. This is like an island surrounded by dangerous reefs, comfort will not last forever and they have to put on their armor for the future that awaits them.

Even clinging to the other, she wonders if she has made the right decision and was not guided by feelings. Maybe she walked blindfolded, she doesn't want to be a burden, someone to worry about.

She knew the silence before uncertain dawns.

This is an illusion.

She wonders what would have become of them without pasts full of pain. Without layered heroes and enemies with the ability to destroy the world. Perhaps they could sail in a sea full of possibilities, like the lovers in the old stories of Azarath. Perhaps they would never know each other, or would, but they would not have this and focus on their own affairs.

For Damian she would only be a few more eyes, and Raven would consider him as a passing object that would not leave a trace.

They are all sad futures.  
***  
A bark rips her from her sleep, there is a canine tongue licking her face. When her eyes open, she is alone lying in a thick pile of blankets and a diver serving as a pillow.

Has she slept all night? The thought is alien to her, because weeks ago she has not been able to fall asleep for more than a handful of hours.

Titus growls and there are sounds from outside. It is still cold, Raven struggles to wake up, runs a hand through her hair wanting to remove any mess and feels the presence of more people.

There are new voices.

She sits on her bed, still dazed by the memories of the night before. Still struggling against the idea that this is not the tower. The concrete of the roofs is replaced by a thin cloth, where few rays of the sun pass through it like lasers and the sounds that come from outside are not familiar voices. They do not have the words or the faces that she would have liked to find.

Her cheeks turn pink when her mind travels to the night before, clearly recalling every scent, touch and detail. His confession had ignited her unease; He let her know that The League of Assassins is more dangerous than he thinks. They had both taken refuge under the covers, as if the cold was a plausible excuse to be together and he left her gently lying down.

Where's Damian?  
She wonders what it would be like to wake up next to him. That his green eyes are the first and the last thing she will see when the sun hides behind the Himalayas and believes the idea that he leaves before dawn to go to the ridiculous, but in this existence, both coexist with pain. Sacrifices and death haunts them like a hound to a bone.

The only thing that seems ridiculous to her is that she will stay, but it is still possible for them to rest from their battles and calm each other's wounds. Her heart raises questions about Damian's absence, hurt that he's not here and beats with the idea that he cares about her.

Would he be able to ease her pain just by staying by her side?

Raven thinks it is a very happy and idealistic concept for people like them.

*** 

When she leaves the tent after breakfast will be brought to her, the snow falls on a soft curtain and a chill run through her figure as she is struck by the sudden temperature change.

Her back bristles at the sight of a whole contingent of people, they comb the area and keep the area under surveillance. Raven can feel the gaze of more than one on her figure, but they do not detect her as a threat, possibly they already have knowledge.

The League of Assassins were considered high-profile criminals, a terrorist organization that subjected the world to an extremist ideal of justice. They saw no people, but soldiers ready to indoctrinate for their cause. Raven didn't think any differently, judging from Damian's initial behavior, he just ended up confirming it.

Boy, things have changed, she thought.

They are just rotting meat sacks. They will fall just like your porcelain heroes.  
"Shut up," she growls.

One of the men gives him a sharp look, but he doesn't say anything, not that she expects him to.

They act as if she were an invisible entity, she is transparent with the snow and she does not matter.

There are more people than expected and Raven doesn't know where to go. The one that most catches her attention is a tall, muscular woman in a red suit that leaves little to the imagination and reminds her of those warriors who appear in video games that Garfield and Jaime liked so much, that their suits can hardly be considered armor. The woman's hair is short and dark, she has a rough beauty, it is as if she is carrying a heavy armor and her eyes have experienced more than she lets on.

Damian stands near a row of cars and talks to the warrior. What she hears doesn't seem good, since his eyebrows are wrinkled, and his arms are crossed on his chest. He is shorter compared to the other warriors, but somehow manages to stand out. If she did not know him, she would think that he is the undisputed leader just by observing the dynamics of the group.

You don't need powers for that.

The woman is the one who sees her first. Her dark eyes protrude through her eyeliner and makes her look like a feline that is about to jump on a defenseless mouse. She gives her a hard look and Titus sticks his body to her, ready to protect her from anyone.

She does not know what to do, her feet struggle in the dirty snow and she is torn between approaching or not.

There is an order floating in the air and her tent is being taken apart. The pieces transported in the trunk of a car and Raven watches as the hooded figures hands are agile, they advance in seconds and she knows that their swords are extensions of their bodies, with one movement they could amputate arms and stop hearts.

The woman is the first to approach.

Titus groans, but he doesn't hurt, and she has to lift her chin to look the murderer in the eye.

"Good morning, Raven," she says, her tone is formal and devoid of emotion. Her short hair dances to the Himalayan wind. "I am Lady Shiva" leaves no room for her to continue. Her breath freezes in a cloud. "We will leave for Narba Parbat in a few minutes. Get in the second car" She moves forward and has to run to catch up with Lady Shiva. The woman clasps her hands behind her back, not looking at her, but supervising the others. "Do not ask questions, you will not speak to men, nor will you move if we do not order it. When we reach the fortress, you will be given further instructions".

She opens the car door.

Raven grimaces, the woman's orders and her tone echo in her head, and she feels out of place. She is a foreign figure to these people.

Is that how your story begins, daughter? The boy will not give you happiness. You, daughter, are not worth it.  
Are you wrong? Asks a voice fed by her father.

"What are you waiting for? " Lady Shiva opens the door, the interior is empty, and she can feel the heating from outside. The woman's eyes itch on her figure, it is to transport her childhood where instructors and teachers treat her like a girl who needs direction.

A stirring rise inside her, it is as if a snake crawls inside her and is confirmed when the dog bristles, looking towards his surroundings with suspicion.

Something is happening, her senses are alert, and she knows that something is coming.

"Why…"

Lady Shiva's irritated voice is cut off as a growl resounds from a distance and the small birds resting in the trees flutter and fly in different directions, she hears their squawks and the churning in the wild. Of colossal and dangerous animal origin, Raven is ready to cast a protection spell on these people, but the killers think differently.

Her initial thought is that this is not a parademons, but an entire horde. She can anticipate danger, trust her predictive powers, even if she have ignored them before.

Damian growls orders, draws his sword and runs to the front position, he would be the first target.

She does not know if they have a knowledge of what they are facing, and she wants to warn them. Whatever was coming towards them is bigger than parademons, and it has a self-awareness. It may not be a thinking being, but it has emotions, it has a beating heart, and it is not a creation of a new god of anti-life.

It is millennial, like a creature taken from a fairy tale.

SHE NEEDS TO TELL THEM.

Before she knows it, Lady Shiva pushes her into the car and closes the door. Titus begins to bark, jumps to the height of the glass and scratches it with his nails, but it is useless.

She is a little stunned by the turn of the movement, she realizes that she is faster than she thought, and her training had to be hard, beyond human capabilities, it reminds her of Kory's speed. In a second, Raven is already in the car.

She tries to open the door, but it is locked.

She must go.

The warrior in red runs into the ranks with her saber in her hands, positioning herself at Damian's level and adopting a defensive pose. The assassins gathered around her have bows and arrows pointed skyward. The leader probably thinks it is the Darkseid army that had defeated the league, took his father perhaps forever, finished off his family and she know that Damian will have no mercy.

Not after what happened.

Titus is barking loudly.

Raven is angry, she is not here to be locked up and banished from battles, she does not want to be cared for and overprotected. She had enough when she was a girl, that did not save her from the disaster and over the years she realized that the best thing would always be to fight.

Do you really think you will be happy?  
She had promised her father that she would fight him step by step. She still wouldn't let her father be right, but the doubt is implanted in her head and she wonders if these murderers know about her identity as a heroine (surely yes), but does that matter? When there is no world to save and each of the figures she admired were smashed to pieces before her eyes, her father's contempt and hatred speeches still linger.

He had played with her head when she was a child. Promised love and the hope of building a heritage, where she would be more than his assistant, she would be his beloved daughter. The hand that he would hold when he would achieve victory, paternal affection in exchange for worlds.

Raven did not want destruction, she just wanted to find love. The kind that looks at you with good eyes, holds your hands in times of adversity and hopes that you become a good person. She wanted a father who would help her when she fell and a figure that could hug her. But when she found him, she had nothing of that, but a being who could not love anyone and absorbed misfortune as food. He was not the loving father that she had wanted when she was little, someone who would help her understand herself. She would ask and Trigon would answer, he just used her, so he forced her to hate him, she ran away and found what she wanted so much.

She did it by herself.

She searched for love all her life, but it was also lethal.

Raven watches the dog's face through the car window and the assassins gathered around Damian scanning the skies and the stir in the air. It is as if nature knew they were in danger or maybe she will collaborate with the assassins.

She was not outside, but locked in a car, acting like she is useless.

As I said ... You are weak, daughter.  
She needed to focus on something else, anything, except her father's mocking laugh echoing through the air. She focuses on the expectant and excited auras of assassins imagining their prey's head hanging on their walls, like a trophy, in the upright posture, and Damian's narrow eyes scanning the skies. She was watching him take his first steps as the Demon Head. The swing of his sword and a death.

Raven closes her eyes, glued her back to the seat and regulates her breathing, assuming the lotus position.

Inhale and exhale.

It is a simple exercise. It was the first thing the monks taught her. She had been a quiet girl and pride hit when they restricted her. She could be full of excuses and turns, for people as obedient, strict and helpful as the monks of Azarath, she could be a problem. Her bad mood and tendency to back away was a collective complaint. Raven could be empathetic, but she didn't connect with people, until they taught her astral projection.

It wasn't always a raven. Before it was a smaller and more elusive thing, an invisible ghost of itself.

When she opened her eyes, she saw the colors of emotions, feelings, energies and the color of life in her hands. The world was never so full of colors, she learned about the rhythm of the heartbeat, the souls bathing the earth. As the flowers and the trees breathed the oxygen from the air, it was like another universe.

Everything was full of color, but years later she would do it again not as a student, but to save the lives of her teammates and catch criminals. Their purposes were painted with heroism.

She no longer saw the world in bright colors like a painting, but in shades of gray and knew that it was more than astral projections, energies and feelings, but what is beyond people. The world was not that perfectly working machine that she imagined as a girl, but it is full of small bumps and loose ends. Those spaces where energy escapes and should not be approached, however, here it was.

It was like looking at a scene from above. When her soul came out of her body, she was a raven. She saw evil and revenge in the heart of many of these shoulders, they were vines that tied her feet to the ground. Others had their eyes covered by the honor and the speeches of Ra's Al Ghul, there were complexities like Lady Shiva, whose heart is cold as the ice accumulated in the mountains but continued to beat for an unknown purpose.

The snow had a bluish color, it caught on like lightning when the flakes fell, as if it embraced the frost and the sky was a crystalline soup. She looked at Damian, but quickly looked away, it would not be her who saw his heart without his permission. She was once in his head and she promised himself that it would be the last; it was an invasion of privacy.

If you do it more than once it's not an accident, Raven, a monk's voice chided. You have to set a limit. You only look inside a house if the owner gives you permission.

She felt Damian's heartbeat like a drum in her ears, a melody of war and seemed to throw it away like the force of gravity exerted by the earth, but she was not here to spy.

If it was Darkseid's army, she would be the first to know.

The trees stirred, stunned by the approaching colossal figure. She felt the snort of it's breath and the beating of the wings raising gusts of wind. It could not be a parademon, she confirmed this being had a heart and knew that it was more than just an animal.

It seemed to have the charm of a puppy, only a very large and deadly one.

She forced her projection to meet the creature. Suddenly, she traveled the landscape in a hurry and was above the trees, perched on the top of a tree as the leaves stirred and the little monkeys with golden fur jumped between the branches fleeing from whatever was approaching.

It was a red dot that grew bigger and bigger, until it formed heavy wings and looked like a giant bat with blood-colored fur. It was larger than she had thought, it reminded her of the stone statues that adorned French cathedrals, but none inspired her as much confidence as it did.

She noticed his black claws, his muscles, and his sharp jaws perfect for tearing flesh, but there was no evil or bloodlust in his eyes.

The animal flapped its wings and headed straight for the base of the mountains where they were waiting with bows, swords, and arrows. When it flew over her head, she swallowed as she realized how massive the creature is up close. He didn't notice her presence but seemed focused on reaching its destination.

It screeched and pushed to get there faster.

He seemed… excited?

She thought she saw Titus in that creature. Once Damian had been away for two weeks on a mission, the dog had pushed Raven to visit the tower entrance every night waiting for the return of his master. By the time he arrived he knew it and life returned to his eyes. She had never seen Titus run so fast and be so excited than when Damian emerged from the elevator.

Only that the growl of this creature was also tinged with sadness and nostalgia. As if it had been plucked from something for a long time and was thirsty for affection. It was like a cry laden with hope, it was like observing an abandoned animal that responded to the promise of affection.

She knew she had to stop everything.  
***  
When Raven returned to her body, she was barely able to breathe and her limbs ached, as if she had exercised a lot. Sweat covered her forehead, a thin drop trickled down her cheek and she didn't mind in the least because she needed to get out.

Titus continued to bark.

"The projections are motherfuckers," she growled, wrapping a hand around her stomach to hold back the nausea. Projecting at a long distance always left her exhausted.

She had no time for regrets.

You have no energy, useless. You will pass out.  
She extended her hand and transported herself outside. The portal was small, but it is enough that her body will land in the wet snow a few meters from the car in a purple flash.

She fell onto the snow, as Titus swirled barking and licking her face, as if asking if she was okay.

Don't betray me now, she begged as she tried to stand up.

"What are you…"

Lady Shiva watches her from a distance with disapproval, but she doesn't care because she must save that creature.

Even from a distance she can feel the beating of his heart and the sweetness of his emotions, only compared to a loving animal, she realized she did not want it to die. She is sure that Damian would not allow a defenseless animal to be killed, but she does not know how he will behave in front of his men.

Would they consider him weak for leaving an animal alive?

Raven stands up with a growl, her legs are two boards and she must push herself to try to stop Damian. She staggers with a pounding heart in her chest and urgency running through her veins.

A figure perches in the treetops, its red fur contrasts with the frigid surroundings, its wings spread out in the shape of a bat in a carmine to black gradient and it growls at the sky, like a coyote to the moon, and see’s how Damian opens his mouth, surprised.

"Catch the beast!" Lady Shiva commands with her saber pointed at the creature.

Her father laughs like a madman, mocking that her attempts and all her effort have not been worth it.

Something lights up inside Raven, as if she had lit a fuel with a match and she screams looking for them to stop. The creature continues to growl, spreading its wings, like the dance of a bird and she feels the emotion pulling in her soul, perceiving the same as the animal.

One of the assassins tightened the string of her bow ready to fire ... 1,2, 3 ...

"NO!" She exclaimed, and his power stopped the arrow as it was about to hit the creature. The black raven flew through the skies flapping its wings killing any threat, arrows, shots and darts.

Lady Shiva growled.

"Enough!" Damian shouted, extending one of his hands. The scene froze, the assassins stared at him paralyzed and her raven flapped its wings at one point in the sky, doing nothing. The creature watched him directly from the trees and Damian frowned, but didn't back down. "Goliath?"

The beast growled like a tiger and they both looked into each other's eyes. The boy's posture relaxed, and she felt something inside her shake when Goliath tilted his head to the side, his eyes soft and she almost felt like he was about to run to hug him, if he knew what that was.

Goliath spread his wings and landed in front of Damian. He continues with a raised hand to stop his men in case they wanted to attack the creature. He looks small compared to the animal, but somehow Damian manages to prevail.

He stretches out a hand when the wind begs like this animal and the snow falls on their bodies, they are ethereal points, which turn the scene into a fantastic painting. When Goliath closes the distance with a sigh against his hand, she knows that his connection with Damian was closing and they are intertwined, like two souls linked by a bond and it is something beautiful.

She can breathe, relieved.

The raven returns to her body in an inhalation, like breathing oxygen and feels the weight of exhaustion in her body, it is consuming her little by little making her a submissive slave and her eyelids begin to weigh on her eyes.

She doesn't want to pass out, but her legs tremble and the impact of the difficult days begins to leave a mark on her body, her tendons and muscles hurt. On the chest where her projection had returned it was as if she had been hurt. It was slowly burning her, absorbing any other sensation and standing is a punishment.

She falls against the snow.

Titus barks, the dog tries to get Damian and the others' attention, asking for help.

All she can hear is her father's teasing, his voice is her constant torture consuming everything, as he did in Azarath.

It looks like her head was about to explode.

Let me out, Raven.  
No, no, no, she squeezes her head with her hands and denies repeatedly. I will never let you out!  
She hears a rustling inside her, it's like a branch snapping forcibly and her ribs are now alight with pain. She's so loud she growls and twists, like a worm on the snowy ground. Her mouth is full of blood, because she has bitten her tongue.

"Raven!" She hears a male voice.

Suddenly several eyes are on her figure, but all she cares about are green ones, who look at her with concern.

Damian does not know whether to touch her or not and grimaces, as if sharing her pain. Raven can hardly hear, everything is a crop of colors, smells and dizziness; they are lost flashes.

There are strong arms around her, a tattered suit with a green insignia and sharp metal in her hands. Everything is hers, but at the same time it does not belong to her; somehow, she knows it's not her story, she shouldn't be here.

What is that?

"Raven," Damian brushes a lock of hair from her face. The tips of his is fingers stop for a few moments on her forehead, as if he wanted to tear out her wrinkles, all her past and his emotions are now strong. It reminds her of the night before when he was opened before her, like a book waiting to be brought to life by a writer's pen. That's Damian Wayne to her, someone who can bring her back. "Raven… " He calls her softly.

Keep talking, she thinks.

Her father's voice and the memories they bring are muffled and she breathes the icy air of the Himalayas. She back.

But everything is wrapped in a black canvas.  
***  
When she opens her eyes there is a burning incense in her room leaving a trail of smoke with a scent so strong that it makes her nose itch. The sheets are delicate and soft, like butter and the wind is strong.

Her tongue is heavy in her mouth and she fights against unconsciousness several times. Her eyes feel like heavy spots and each limb hurts. There is something light about her clothing and her torso is tight, as if a boa was compressing it.

"Did you wake up?" Asks a soft voice with a heavy accent, the English is so hard that she has to process the question several times to understand.

Where am I located?  
Where's Damian?  
She distinguishes two faces of women dressed in colored robes, their tan skin, small, slanted eyes, and dark, ink-like hair. They are young and they walk around the room, she feels their souls light as feathers, they walk opening some curtains being careful when one agrees to the question.

Raven tries to make sense of where she is.

Oh Azar, her ribs are killing her.  
Her forces have abandoned her, and it seems that this bed is eating her little by little, because she cannot straighten up.

"Good morning, Lady Raven." One of the girls leans in, her face showing a beaming smile. "You must be confused…" The other elbowed her and there was an exchange of glances, finally the girl smiled. "Welcome to Narba Parbat. "

**Author's Note:**

> The fanfiction will have ten parts  
> Inspired by Batman Beyond and Games of Thrones  
> See you in two weeks!


End file.
